All of our coffee origins start with a relationship; somebody knows somebody who’s growing coffee. Once we make a connection, we evaluate the growers’ goals. Those goals need to include positive outcomes for the people and environment they directly affect. Most of our growers pick their own coffee. If they are hiring pickers, they contribute holistically to improving their quality of life.
This was our first origin. We met them through some friends and made our first of three trips down in the fall of 2010 to spend time with them. It comes from a dozen or so Ixil farmers from Chajúl in the Quiche district of Guatemala. It’s grown in the mountains between 1300-1600 MASL. With Caturra, Bourbon, and Sarchimor varietals, this coffee is pleasantly acidic and full bodied with notes of Caramel, Chocolate, Green Apple, Watermelon.
We host direct-trade coffee shops because we want to encourage folks to take small steps toward meaning and impact in community. While we were initially attracted to coffee philosophically, we also love pursuing and presenting excellence in coffee. Smart roasting is a key step to presenting to you that excellence. Our roasting happens in small batches at our facility in Ivanhoe Village so you'll always be drinking coffee at its peak freshness. Our aim is to craft each roast's profile to develop to perfection the aromas, flavors, acidity and body in our carefully selected beans so you can enjoy everything our friends at origin work so hard to produce.
We met José through Dr. Conway at Rollins College. In 2017, CREDO's founder (Ben) traveled to Chiapas to meet José and see the way that direct sale of coffee improves the quality of lives in the villages where he works. What Ben found was a local effort between the Rainforest Alliance, Heifer International, Toks (a Mexican restaurant chain), and the Mexican government to collaborate with their energy and resources to improve the quality of coffee production and the quality of life for coffee farmers. We're excited to support their work by buying their coffee and are proud to have been the first to bring their beautiful coffee to the states. This coffee is grown on the slopes of Volcán Tacaná at 1400-1500 MASL. Containing a medley of Typica, Bourbon, Marsellesa, and Costa Rica 95 varietals, we roast this origin to highlight its notes ofBakers Chocolate, Clove, Sage, Salted Caramel. It's our darkest roast, so if you're a traditional coffee drinker that appreciates the bolder side of coffee, this one's for you.
This coffee comes to us through our friend Emil whose family runs a mill in Honduras (mills facilitate the final preparation of coffee beans on behalf of growers who don’t have the means to prepare it themselves). The family is a philanthropic force in the region in solidarity with the growers they serve. They also select coffee from organic farms to send over to us. In your hands is one of those coffees. With your purchase you’re helping us, and them, make an impact for good.
We got connected to this coffee through our friend Kieth Wittingham. He is a business school professor with a focus on Coffee Supply Chain and had built a strong collaboration with non-profit coffee growers. Their mission is to pioneer methods for growing the highest quality coffee in the most sustainable way in their region. They take the methods they learn and teach surrounding subsistence level farmers. We’re proud to serve their coffee and join their mission of elevating the great work of coffee growers in Costa Rica.
Nate met Peter Kuria in the summer of 2021 when Peter stopped by our roasting facility one afternoon to introduce himself. Peter's family has been farming coffee in Nakuru Kenya since 1983, and has recently expanded their operation into exporting their coffees to the states. Now, they help neighboring farmers mill and sort their coffees and are working towards helping their community gain access to better markets and higher prices. At present, we buy two coffees from the Kuria family; their Peaberry and part of their main crop. Comprised of SL28, Ruiru 11, Batian varietals, these coffees are latosolic grown at 1900 MASL, wet-washed, and dried on raised beds.